The British government used the "civilising" narrative to deny sovereignty, justify the colonisation process and build an empire. It argued that there was a "majority of German-speaking" population to allow the surrender of the Sudetenland to Nazi Germany in 1938, and it defended the fallacy of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq to support an illegal war.
These civilising or "national security" justifications were wrongful foreign policy narratives that have brought extensive suffering and had disastrous and long-term implications.
However, current British authorities continue supporting unjust narratives that misinterpret historical realities and cause untold suffering.
The British government has recently responded to a popular petition to arrest the prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, on charges of war crimes when he arrives in London - a petition that has already gathered more than 75,000 signatures.
The government highlighted that Netanyahu, as every head of state, enjoys inviolability and complete immunity from criminal jurisdiction, an unjust remnant and privilege of international customary law that impedes any foreign court to judge Netanyahu for his crimes.
Nevertheless, this argument was expected as it follows a traditional and restrictive interpretation of international law.
People and Power - Gaza: Deadly Assaults
What was received with surprise was the rest of the response in which the British government made clear that it recognises "Israel's right to take proportionate action to defend itself" and condemns "the terrorist tactics of Hamas who fired rockets on Israel, built extensive tunnels to kidnap and murder, and repeatedly refused to accept ceasefires".
In case the message was not clear, the government ended the answer stressing that "the UK is a close friend of Israel, and we enjoy an excellent bilateral relationship built on decades of cooperation..."
Read more:
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2015/08/uk-lets-netanyahu-150826080301995.html
